Officers initially said that a 23-year-old Whittier man was behind the wheel of a BMW that fell 25 feet down the road, south of Skyline Drive in Hacienda Heights on Tuesday night. Alberto Gonzalez Jr., also known as Adalberto Gonzalez Jr., was killed when he was ejected and the car landed on him. At the time, it was believed that the teen was a passenger.

But CHP Officer Al Perez said a second interview of the girl and physical evidence led them to determine she was the driver.

“My understanding is she admitted to driving the car,” Perez said.

He also said there were marks on her from the seat belt.

The girl hasn’t been arrested. The investigation is still ongoing.

He said whether she will face charges will be determined when the investigation is completed.

Perez didn’t know if the teen was related to Gonzalez and why she was driving the BMW that night.

The 1998 BMW was heading south on Turnbull Canyon Road at 8:35 p.m. Tuesday when it failed to negotiate a curve and lost control. Perez said it hasn’t been determined yet how fast the car was going or what caused the driver to lose control.

The BMW rolled several times and pinned Gonzalez.

The 15-year-old climbed out of the car to go for help. She sustained moderate injuries.

“My understanding is she was able to climb to the roadway. A passing motorist saw her and that’s when they called 9-1-1,” Perez said.

Ed Winter, assistant chief of operations for the Los Angeles County Department of the Coroner, said Gonzalez died of blunt-force trauma and his death was ruled an accident. His body is still at the coroner’s office.

Gonzalez’s family declined to be interviewed.

His parents used to own the R & H Market on Greenleaf Avenue, which was recently sold.

Manager Florencio Navarro said he only met the couple when the market was sold. He didn’t know how long the Gonzalezes owned the business.

Public records list a new owner for the grocery store in November, 2008.

Ruby Gonzales started working for the company in 1991. Since then she has written about cities, school districts, crimes, cold cases, courts, the San Gabriel River, local history, anime, insects, forensics and the early days of the Internet when people still referred to it as the "information superhighway." Her current beat includes breaking news, crimes and courts for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star News and Whittier Daily News. When not in crime reporter mode, she frequents the remaining bookstores in the San Gabriel Valley, haunts craft stores or gets dragged to eateries by a relative who is a foodie.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.